1980 New York Mets – 67-95

 

I’m ashamed to admit that I attended at least 20 home games that season to watch another addition of the cellar dweller Flushing 9.  This would be the 4th consecutive sub .500 finish for the Amazin’s, but sadly it would not be the last.  Those lovable Metsies would go on to finish near or in the basement for 3 consecutive years, but there was hope on the horizon.

  Mrs. Payson’s heirs finally sold the team after running it into the ground after her death.  The matriarch of the Met franchise must have been turning over in her grave as the likes of M.Donald Grant and her daughter Linda DeRoulet began to gut her beloved franchise.  The ultimate low point occurred at the trading deadline in 1977, which in these parts is known as “The Midnight Masacre”.  That infamous night saw the teams best slugger, Dave Kingman dealt away for nothing, but even more harmful was seeing “The Franchise”, Tom Seaver sent to Cincy for a host of young guys.  Those young guys:  Doug Flynn (2B), Pat Zachry (P), Steve Henderson (LF) & Dan Norman (OF) would make up the core of this loser team.  While it is unfair to pin the Mets demise on these young players it is fair to pin it on the trade of Seaver.  Without Seaver the franchise lacked respectability and professionalism.  In his place the rotation consisted of  Zachry, Ray Burris, Mark Bomback, Pete Falcone and Craig Swan…not exactly Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, Ryan or Gentry.

What the starting pitching lacked the bullpen lacked even more.  The closer was a young, albeit nervous Neil Allen (7-10, 3.70, 22sv).  Allen was a given coming out of the pen.  Not a sure thing given like Tug McGraw used to be, but a given in the sense that you’d get agiata as he walked the bases loaded or allowed doubles off the wall.  He’d make every outing interesting for sure.  Sitting behind him was a young Jeff Reardon, who inexplicably never got his turn.  It would get so bad the Mets would “dump” Reardon on the Expos in return for a badly damaged Ellis Valentine the following year.  We all know how well that trade turned out.

Well enough focusing on the negative.  Let’s focus on the positive.  The positive is this.  The Doubleday/Wilpon consortium would purchase the franchise and begin trying to build it from the ground up.  First thing was first the got a new slogan, “Take your kids to see our kids”.  When that didn’t work they switched to “The Magic is Back”.  Unfortunately us fans modified that slogan to read, “The Tragic is Back”.

The tragic began to extend from the ballfield to TV.  Even  Saturday Night Live began poking fun of the Mets regularly with their “Chico Escuela” skits.  A generation of embattled Mets fans began to believe their actually was a Chico Escuela and longed for his return to the lineup.  Of course nobody was laughing with the Mets like they did in the early 60’s, they were laughing at them.  Even the melodious tones from Jane Jarvis’ organ were destined to be replaced by the tinny sound of My Sharona, off the empty seats at Shea.

While the major league team was sputtering the farm system began to replenish.  Even Shea, which was only 16 years old at the time needed an overhaul and a fresh coat of blue paint was added to the outfield wall to cover up the drab green.  the multi-colored shingles were removed and the outside was painted blue.  No longer would fans be going to “Grant’s Tomb” to see a poor excuse of a team.  They would now be going to the “Big Blue Toilet in Flushing”.  As you can tell, things were changing.

One thing remained the same, the Mets suffered at the box office. More than half the fans, mostly those of the teenage female variety came to see matinee Idol Lee Mazzilli, a Brooklyn native who patrolled center field.  On most teams “Maz” would be a 4th outfielder, but on these Mets he was their lone superstar.  Maz had average power at best, a throwing arm that could barely break a pane of glass, but he possessed John Travolta / Saturday Night Fever good looks and became known as the Mets Italian Stallion.  His 16 homers would pace a club that for most of the season threatened to hit less homers than Roger Maris did in 1961.  In fact the NY Daily News had a Mets vs Maris chart in the paper every day.

Met fans with vision will be able to see hope with the youthful insurgence of players like Mookie Wilson & Wally Backman, who made September a time for hope and promise.  The true high point of the season occurred off the field when the Mets selected Darryl Strawberry with the #1 overall pick in the draft.  Unfortunately for the Flushing Faithful it would be 3 years before “Straw” would make it to Flushing.

In the meantime there was Mike Jorgensen & Grandma Ron  Hodges to keep fans amused.  Sadly Steady Eddie Kranepool was exiled by the new ownership after being a part of the franchise for all of their first 18 years.  Yes, the time they were a’changin.